Vacant Room
by Remlek
Summary: Rodeo decides to start a new life, an ad on the newspaper catches his attention, what'll happen when he moves to an apartment that is believed to be haunted? Characters: Katrina, Rodeo and Wisp.


I decided to leave my home, back at Argus; move to a new town and start again, so, here I am. After reading an ad in the newspaper that there was an apartment for only just 500 bells per week, I decided I would check it out, although there was something wrong with that apartment. It was… haunted. I pulled a string that had a bell attached to it and a sound was made before I entered this old hag-cat's tent. I stared at her blankly and decided that I better say a word to her, before she chants a spell and turns me into her new pot or something odd happened.

The inside of her tent was something beyond amazing. There were all sorts of potions of very vivid tones of orange, red, and blue; among some less seen shades of green ones that were kept together in a tiny spot comparing to the amount of the other potions surrounding those. A table was placed in the middle of it and there was a crystal on a small one on back, along a red chair, that resembled a throne.

"Hello," I greeted her, once I caught her attention; she grabbed some cards and motioned for me to sit down. "Actually, I'm here to rent the apartment announced on the newspaper," I said, while half smiling to the old cat lady that was standing right in front of me. She just looked at me, as if she was studying me.

"Oh, Rodeo, are you sure you should rent that apartment? Don't you want to go back home, dear child?" She addressed me by my name, and that was just… creepy. I was curious; if she knows my name, then she must know I have no other place to go.

"Do we know each other?" I asked, acting dumb. I know, I know. I  
don't know you old hag, but…

"You may not know me…" she said, interrupting my thoughts. "But, I know everything about you, child," The cat lady said, looking intensively at my eyes.

"Well, I need a place to stay and I don't really care if there are any ghosts in that room or not, where's the contract?" I asked to the cat lady. She just ignored me, though. "Hey, old hag, I want to rent the apartment, are you listening to me?" I was starting to lose my nerves. But, she is an old cat lady, maybe she might've be a bit deaf or something… I don't know.

"I'm not deaf. If you are so sure, then here, catch," She replied, throwing me the keys. "If you can survive a night on the apartment, you can stay there; better yet if you stay all night, I'll even give you the apartment free of fees or anything, yours to keep," Katrina said with a smirk on her face.

"I don't believe your tale; ghosts do not exist," I replied, while heading towards the entrance to the apartment. I stood in front of the odd shaped door; it was a black door, with the some numbers written on red, which I couldn't tell, it was too dark to notice. I slid my hand in my pockets and grabbed the keys, then turned the doorknob. While trying to locate the light switch on the wall, I hit my left foot with a box that was on the ground covered with some spider web.

"How old is this place!?" I asked out loud, and some other voice echoed the word place. I turned around and there was no one to be seen. Was this apartment really haunted? I couldn't turn back now, if I just stayed on this dark place a night I would have a home… a home. Something I had always wished for and always lacked. At a sudden movement of my arm, the light switch was turned on. I could see the empty room.

The apartment was small, but enough for me. I walked around it and found a bed in the only other room that had a door of its own. I took a quick inspection of what would be my room from now on. It was… clean, unlike everything else in the house. I was tired, so I hurried into the bed, and crawled in.

"Why are you here?" A voice asked me.

"This is now my home," I replied, with no fear on my voice.

"I came to pay you a visit," The voice replied and the figure appeared close to me, it was a floating white thing. I grabbed it, which wasn't what the creature expected.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" I asked, switching points with my attacker.

"I'm Wisp, and this is MY home," The… ghost said to me, now clearly visible that what was talking with me was a ghost. I ran towards the wall and turned the light on. It blocked me and threw objects to the bulb, smashing it to pieces.

"How dare you!?" I was mad at this thing.

"You've got guts, the first animal to stand in my way that hasn't shivered yet," Wisp said in a cynical tone.

"Well, I won't just stand here, I'll throw you out!" I grabbed Wisp and locked him between my arms, it was struggling with me, but I made it to the front door. Then it started crying out loud.

"You can't throw me out, no, don't!" It cried. "Why can't I throw you out?" I asked to it. "It's Katrina's fault, she placed a curse on me, and now I can't leave," Wisp explained to me.

"Well, if that's how things are, then you can stay, but stop bothering me," I told the ghost, and it just nodded.

The next morning, I went to Katrina's tent. She was annoyed, about something… I just greeted her on my way in and she started screaming.

"YOU! YOU! WHY YOU DID YOU COME HERE?!" Katrina was throwing potions at me; I tried my best to dodge them and successfully accomplished it, wherever they landed different things happened, some made holes, small explosions, and so… now I was confused. Why was she doing mad at me, and threatened to kill me?

"Hey, old hag, what's wrong with you? Why are you attacking me?" I tried speaking slowly and as calm as possible.

"You had freed Wisp's soul, now the spell is broken, and I'm not going to let you get away with that," She was mad; her tone was scary and intimidating. She was so focused on hitting me with her pot, that she didn't notice Wisp beside her.

"Bye, old hag," Wisp said. She looked at him in shock, with wide eyes and her body just started to melt, forming a pool of the odd red  
substance that I once saw in the door at night.

"What just happened?" I asked Wisp.

"She wasn't alive anymore; she was sustaining herself on potions she created from powerful emotions such as fear. She used me to scare people while they were sleeping, and using a chant to draw out their emotion fluids, now that's over and you are free to do as you please, thanks…" Wisp said, while leaving me alone.

I smiled. Now, my new life would begin.


End file.
